O’Rourke on separation of families at border: ‘It is on all of us’

When it comes down to it, the separation of families at the border is “on all of us, not just the Trump administration,” Rep. Beto O’Rourke told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” Sunday morning.

“At the moment that [these children] finally thought they had reached safety, refuge, were going to petition for asylum, they were taken from their parents, and are now in Tornillo with no idea of when or if they will see their mothers or their fathers on this Father’s Day again,” the Texas Democratic congressman said.

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The practice recently came under fire when Attorney General Jeff Sessions argued that, if parents don’t want to risk being separated from their children, they should not bring their children with them in the first place — adding that the administration warns those who illegally travel to the U.S. with their children in tow that “they can’t expect that they will always be kept together.”

“Things have to be really bad for you to leave Honduras, travel 2,0000 miles, if you’re lucky, on top of — not inside of — a train known as The Beast, or La Bestia, with your child,” O’Rourke commented. “To literally take your and your child’s life into your hands and hope that you will make it here. Once you get here to try to request asylum, only to find that your child will be taken from you.”

O’Rourke, who is running for the Senate this year against Republican Ted Cruz, said he is working alongside other lawmakers to draft legislation that would end the practice of separating families at the border, and plans to introduce the legislation this week.

“I want to make sure that that mother, who might be fleeing domestic violence, whose daughter or son might be pressed into service for a ruthless gang or cartel, has the ability to petition for asylum lawfully and legally here in the United States,” O’Rourke added, referring to a 27-year-old mother from Honduras who was found trying to cross the border with her 7-year-old daughter.

“Within hours of meeting her, her 7-year-old daughter was going to be taken from her,” he explained. “And I cannot imagine that trauma that mother and child felt at that moment. We have got to make sure that we do not continue to inflict that. Already, 2,000 kids in the last 45 days have been taken from their parents.”

O’Rourke also commented on President Donald Trump’s vocal criticism of Democrats and their role in the separation of families at the border, which the president has said could be tackled by Democrats working alongside Republicans on new legislation — and Americans electing more Republicans to office this November.

The Texas Democrat argues that these separations boil down to more than just partisan politics — it’s also on the shoulders of the American people.

“I think the American people are going to force us to do the right thing,” O’Rourke said. “That always happens in America. It is frustrating. It’s slow. It doesn’t happen right away. But ultimately, we get it right, and I’m confident that the American people this time are going to get it right.”